Artist Police

‘Artist Police’ loosely tells the true story of Dao Anh Khanh, Vietnam’s most controversial censorship police officer, who after 20 years of controlling art and artists – decided to switch sides and became Vietnam’s most famous and bizarre artist himself. But – this is just barely the surface!

From early on it was important to me that ‘Artist Police’ would not just be a film *about* Khanh or just a film *about* art. Instead – it’s always been its own, standalone art project!

Even more than it tells Khanh’s story – the film also tells MY story. It tells the universal story of anyone who’s ever struggled against control, censorship and various life’s obstacles. It tells the story of each of us who persevered, who learned and grew from these challenges and decided not to let the hardships we face become the sole definition of our existence. As such, at its core – the film explores the broad concept of freedom: be it creative, personal, sexual or political.

I spent most of my life in Vietnam and I consider the country the closest place to ‘home’. I interviewed Khanh some 8 years ago for a local TV project I was working on and we’ve since become close friends. Over the years I attended and filmed many of Khanh’s art performances. These, paired with my own experiences and ideas, later served as inspiration for ‘Artist Police’.

Khanh’s work tends to be spontaneous, improvised, evocative of feelings and experiences. My background on the other hand is all about narrative filmmaking. My work – tends to be carefully planned, structured and my primary focus is to tell a story. The film combines both our backgrounds into a creative collaboration where the scene concepts were often based on Khanh’s past work, but adapted into a completely different light, or perhaps - reinterpreted by me – for the purposes of the film.

I call ‘Artist Police’ an experimental fantasy documentary. It exists somewhere among these genres. With performance art being all about the body and the sensory experiences – I asked myself – how can I recreate this experience on screen? How can I show an ordinary location – yet at the same time - place the action in a surreal reality?

I focused on subtle movements, subtle details of the bodies. I strived to film – even the most over-photographed locations like Hanoi’s Long Bien bridge – from very fitting, yet never-before-seen perspectives. I focused on creating colorful, surreal, original characters – and I placed them in ordinary settings, forcing art and reality to clash. I’ve worked with a dedicated, international sound and music crew – to create a further sense of mystical reality rooted in quintessential sounds of Vietnam, of nature, of hardship – all combined with contemporary, surreal, experimental art elements.

To me, ‘Artist Police’ is also an exploration of the creative process of an Artist and his central influences: his parents, his lovers, his friends and his audience.

Finally – I see ‘Artist Police’ as an audio-visual puzzle. Even among my tiny, but multi-national crew – the film brought out various interpretations of its key symbolism such as “the wall”. My Berlin-based musicians – thought of it in the context of contemporary German history. My US-based sound designer – drew parallels to American politics today. To Khanh – the wall was a prison of censorship. And to me – each brick represents a personal insecurity which builds up over time. All of these are true – and each interpretation serves as just one piece of a much larger puzzle which is ‘Artist Police’.

‘Artist Police’ is a film about creative defiance. It’s a film about the often harrowing and full of sacrifices process – of developing your own voice – and using it. But… it’s also a really fun, surreal, audio-visual fantasy adventure!

- Matt Dworzanczyk / Director –